A violent courtroom incident in which a man attacked his wife and was restrained by the judge has heightened concerns about court security as more litigants appear without legal representation.

The fight broke out during a hearing at Southend county court in Essex last week, shortly after the judge had started delivering her decision about custody and visiting rights concerning the couple's child.

The father, not represented by a lawyer, stood up, began walking across the court, then turned on his wife and repeatedly punched her in the head. She suffered severe bruising.

Lawyers, court officials and the judge all joined in efforts to stop the attack. An usher is understood to have been injured. The father was eventually restrained, removed from court and arrested.

An Essex police spokeswoman said: "A man has appeared in court charged with two offences after an incident in Southend county court."

He was remanded in custody to appear before magistrates and charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and assault by beating.

The Crown Prosecution Service confirmed that the man had pleaded guilty to both offences and had been remanded in custody. He is due to appear at a crown court for sentencing later this month.

The case is viewed so seriously by judicial authorities that the man is also to be brought to London to appear before the president of the Family Division, Sir James Munby, on Wednesday, to face contempt of court proceedings.

Legal aid for most family cases was withdrawn in April as a cost-saving measure under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act.

A spokesperson for HM Courts & Tribunals Service spokesperson said:"[We] take the issue of security within courts extremely seriously and have a robust security and safety system to protect all court users and the judiciary.

"This system includes mandatory bag searches, metal detectors and surveillance cameras, as well as court security officers who have legislative powers to protect all those in the court building. The powers of the court security officers include the ability to restrain and remove people from the building should there be a need."

Steve Hynes, director of the Legal Action Group, which monitors legal aid, said: "This has always been a problem in family cases. It is not the first time it has happened. I have talked to judges and they have expressed concern about such incidents, particularly in family courts.

"But the increase in litigants in person adds another risk factor. There's no one there to explain to them what is going to happen. They don't know what to expect and they don't know what the strengths and weaknesses of the case are.

"It can lead to frustration. The danger is there could be more of such incidents because there are more litigants in person. But that's no excuse for such an attack."

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "Self-represented parties are not a new phenomenon. Immediately prior to our legal aid changes about half of private law children's cases involved them. Lawyers representing a party would not play a role in court security matters, and we have no evidence to suggest any increase in this type of incident since April."